Method of and apparatus for rebending strip-like material



J. W. O'BRIEN Jan. 14, 1969 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REBENDINGSTRIP-LIKE MATERIAL Filed July 13, 1966 Sheet l of 2 INVENTOR.

JA-AEM/Al/ m 022/5 BY ATTORA/EM J4 Q 7&1;

Jan. 14, 1969 .1. w. OBRIEN 3,421,352

' METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REBENDING STRIP-LIKE MATERIAL- I FiledJuly 13. 1966 Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR. JEQEM/A/a' n4 024/5.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Wee METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR REBENDINGSTRIP-LIKE MATERIAL Jeremiah Wagner OBrien, Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor toUnited Engineering and Foundry Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporationof Pennsylvania Filed July 13, 1966, Ser. No. 564,860 Claims priority,application Great Britain, July 27, 1965,

32,137/ 65 US. Cl. 72146 11 Claims Int. Cl. B21c 47/02; BZld 11/14ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a method of andapparatus for rebending strip-like material after it has been uncoiledfrom coil form for feeding to a processing apparatus, such as a rollingmill. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method andapparatus for rebending a portion of the trailing end of a coil whichhas been uncoiled, which portion for one reason or another is to berecoiled and not passed into the processing apparatus. Without anyintention to limit the present invention, and only for the sake ofexplanation, the invention will be explained in combination with theoperation of a rolling mill.

In certain types of rolling, say, for example, in the operation of a2-high temper pass mill, the trailing portion of the coil is consideredscrap material, so that it is highly desirable to sever this portionfrom the prime portion of the coil which is fed into the mill andprocessed. One proposed method of handling the scrap trailing endportion of the coil is to feed it entirely through the mill, the millrolls, however, being separated so as not to work the strip. The scrapportion, after passing from the mill, is coiled on an auxiliary reelarranged at the delivery side of the mill. This not only requiresadditional equipment, but, in addition, it necessitates lost time inrequiring a complete uncoiling of the trailing end portion, its passagethrough the mill and then winding it up on an auxiliary reel.

The present invention is addressed to a method of and apparatus forovercoming the aforesaid numerated objections of the prior devices and,more particularly, relates to the employment of a strip rebending deviceat the entry side of the mill. This device is intended to be employed asfollows: when the first scrap portion at the trailing end of the coil isuncoiled by an uncoiling device, the scrap portion is sheared from theprime portion of the coil. This shear may be arranged either at thedelivery or entry side of the mill. After this shearing occurs, theuncoiler device is rotated in a reverse direction to wind up the scrapportion. Prior to this being done, however, a three-roll rebendingdevice is brought into an operative position with the scrap portion thatextends between the rebending device and the mill. This rebending devicethus bends the material in such a manner as to put a permanent set inthe strip, thereby the strip will be easily subject to recoiling. It isto be pointed out that in the absence of working the strip by rebendingit, its inherent resiliency would not allow the end portion of the stripof itself to stay in coil form after the tension between the uncoilerand mill was lost so that a band would have to be placed around theresidual coil.

Thus the present invention has for its primary object the employment ofa rebending device for the trailing end portion of a coil of strip whichwill require no banding or auxiliary strip wrapping means.

In the preferred form of the present invention there is provided anuncoiler which may take the form of a cone- Patented Jan. 14, 1969 typeuncoiler or a pay-off reel, which feeds a coil to a processor forprocessing thereby. Between the uncoiler and the processor there isarranged a three-roll strip rebending device, at least one of whichrolls is adapted to be displaced away from the other two so as to renderthe rebending device inoperative during the processing of the primeportion of the coil. There is also provided either on the entry ordelivery side of the processor, but after the rebending device, movingin a direction towards the processor, a shear which is employed to severthe trailing scrap end of the coil from the prime portion thereof. Meansis provided for reverse operation of the uncoiler or reel so that oncethe trailing end of the portion of this coil has been severed from theleading portion, the portion of the strip extending from the uncoiler orreel to or through the processing device, in case the shear is mountedon the delivery side of the device, is adapted to be recoiled on theuncoiler or reel. During the recoiling, the rebender rolls are caused toassume a nested relationship so as to cause a permanent set to be put inthe strip whereby the portion being subject to rebending will allowitself to be recoiled without necessitating any banding. After thetrailing end of the portion of the strip has been completely recoiled onthe uncoiler or reel, the residual scrap coil can be removed by anyconvenient device, such as a commercial jib crane.

Drawings These and other features of the present invention will becomemore apparent when the following description is read along with theaccompanying drawings of which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view illustrating the present invention usedin conjunction with a Z-high temper pass mill, and

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of the arrangement shown in FIGURE 1.

Description of invention With reference to the drawing there isillustrated a rolling mill 10 consisting of two work rolls 11 and 12between which a strip or sheet of material is passed for temper rolling.The rolling mill, as previously noted, is not considered a part of thepresent invention and in view of the fact that it follows well-knowndesigns, a detailed explanation of its various components will not begiven.

Turning now to the entry side of the mill 1Q, there is provided a coilconveyor 13 which is adapted to receive a series of coils A and bringthem into a position for uncoiling. In the uncoiling position there isprovided an elevator 14 which removes the coils from the conveyor andcenters them relative to cones 15 and 16 of the uncoiler 17. Theuncoiler and the elevator 14 are of wellknown conventional design, andthe specific details thereof will not be given herein. It should bementioned, however, that the elevator 14, once a coil supported therebyhas been transferred to the cones 15 and 16 of the uncoiler, will belowered so as to permit the uncoiler 17 to feed the leading end of thecoil into the mill. The cones 15 and 16, of course, are traversedtowards and away from the coil, for example, by a piston cylinderassembly according to the usual practice. In addition they are driven byelectrical motors 18 and 19, which are of the reversible type so as toeither pay 0d or rewind the strip supported by the cones 15 and 16.

Above the cones when in their operative position, there is provided astrip guiding device 21 employed for guiding the leading end of the coilbeing uncoiled into the mill 10. Before leaving the uncoiler 17, it isimportant to call attention to the jib crane 22, shown only in FIG- URE2, provided for removing the residual scrap coil from the uncoiler. Thisjib crane may follow the designs of well-known commercial units. Anexample of one of these is illustrated in the general catalog ofManning, Maxwell and Moore, Inc., Muskegon, Mich., U.S.A., Bulletin No.383, August 1947, entitled Shaw-Box-Load Lifter, Self-Supporting JibCranes. This entire assembly will be mounted on a support, not shown.

Moving in a direction towards the mill from the strip guiding device 21there is provided an adjustable platen 25 which is extendable in adirection towards the coil A by a piston cylinder assembly 26 and it ispivotally secured at its end adjacent the mill. The platen is alsovertically adjustable by a piston cylinder assembly 27 so as toaccommodate the various elevations of the strip being uncoiled from theuncoiler 17 and to close the gap between the mill and the equipment tobe now described.

Positioned between the platen 25 and a coil A is a strip rebendingdevice 28 and, as shown, consists of three rolls 31, 32 and 33, therolls 31 and 32 being arranged above the normal path of the strip andthe roll 33 being arranged below the path of the strip. It is importantto note, as shown in FIGURE 1, that the rolls 31, 32 and 33 are closelypositioned to the coil scrap end B when the rolls are operativelypositioned. The lower roll 33 is supported on a pair of rigidlyinterconnected arms 34, only one arm being shown, that are pivotallymounted on a support frame 35. A piston cylinder assembly 36 is mountedon the frame and has its rod end connected to the arm 34. Operation ofthe piston cylinder assembly pivotally displaces the arm 34, hence, theroll 33 from the operative position shown in FIGURE 1 to an inoperativeposition indicated by phantom lines. The rolls 31 and 32 are supportedon a pair of rigidly interconnected arms 37 that are also pivotallymounted on the frame 35. A piston cylinder assembly 38 is mounted on theframe 35 and has its rod end connected to an actuating lever 39 which isin turn secured to the arms 37. Displacement of the lever 39 byactuation of the piston cylinder assembly displaces the arm 37, hence,the rolls 31 and 32 from the operative position shown in FIGURE 1 to aninoperative position indicated by phantom lines. The piston cylinderassemblies 36 and 33, in another arrangement, could be replaced by otherforce activating devices such as mechanical jacks. In either case, therelative distances and relationships of the rolls 31, 32 and 33 will beadjustable to produce the desired bending action for any particularphysical characteristics of strip being processed.

The upper rolls 31 and 32 are driven by a motor 41 through a gear unit42, as best shown in FIGURE 2. The lower roll 33 may be either driven oridle. In the arrangement shown, this roll is not driven. As shown inFIG- URE 1, it will be appreciated that in the inoperative position ofthe roll 33 and rolls 31 and 32, shown by phantom lines, these rolls arearranged a sufficient distance below and above the coil A and the passline of the strip so as to avoid contact therewith. From thesepositions, when the piston cylinder assemblies 36 and 38 are operated,the roll 33 will assume a nested relationship with the rolls 31 and 32and impose a permanent set in the strip being fed between the threerolls.

Moving towards the mill 10 on the right-hand side of the strip rebenderdevice 28 there is provided a pair of pinch rolls 43 and 44 betweenwhich the strip passes to and from the mill. These pinch rolls are motordriven in a conventional Way and in addition, the upper roll 43 isvertically adjustable by a piston cylinder assembly 45.

The next important element to note is the shear 46 which is mounted atthe delivery side of the mill. This shear consists of a stationary upperhead 47 arranged above the path of travel of the strip adapted tocooperate with a lower knifehead 48, the knifeheads having raked knivesand when brought into a cutting relationship sever the strip fed betweenthem. The lower knifehead 48 is vertically movable by a piston cylinderassembly 49 which is mounted on the mill 10.

The equipment that follows the shear 46 may take a number of differentforms and does not compare a part of the present invention. In one form,it may consist of a tension reel in combination with a belt wrapperwhich are well known in the art.

A brief description of the operation of the present invention will nowbe given. Let it be assumed that a coil is being uncoiled from the cones15 and 16 by the uncoiler 17 and the prime portion thereof has been'fedthrough the mill 19. Upon the operators detecting the commencing of thetrailing scrap end portion of the coil, the mill It) will be deeeleratedand the trailing end of the strip sheared from the remainder of the coilby operating the piston cylinder 49 of the shear 46. Thereafter, theoperator will either reverse the rotation of the rolls 11 and 12 of themill or open them up so as to allow the portion of the strip extendingfrom the coil to the shear to be rewound on the uncoiler 17 upon theoperation of motors 18 and 19 and, hence, to reverse the rotation of thecones 15 and 16. Before this occurs, however, the rolls 31 and 32 of therebending device 28 are positioned closely adjacent the strip and thelower roll 33 is brought into its operative nested position with respectto the rolls 31 and 32. The upper pinch roll 43 also will be raised soas to allow the strip to freely pass into the uncoiler 17. The reverseoperation of the uncoiler 17 and motor 41 of the rebender rolls 31 and32 will feed that portion of the strip extending between the rebender 28and the shear 46 through the rebender and subject it to a permanent setwhich will allow the rebent strip to be rewound on the uncoiler withoutnecessitating any banding of the residual scrap coil. Once the completetrailing portion of the strip has been rewound, the jib crane 29 will bebrought into operation and will remove the coil from the uncoiler 17 toa suitable place where it can be taken away from the mill at aconvenient time.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I haveexplained the principle and operation of my invention and haveillustrated and described what I consider to represent the bestembodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that withinthe scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. An apparatus to facilitate recoiling of an uncoiled portion of stripmaterial comprising:

an uncoiler for rotatably supporting a coil of strip to be uncoiledincident to processing thereof;

drive means associated with said uncoiler for rotating a coil supportedby said uncoiler in at least one direction to cause recoiling of alength of uncoiled strip;

shear means spaced from said uncoiler and adapted to sever said lengthof uncoiled strip while a portion of the strip remains in coil form andsupported by said uncoiler; and

strip bending means arranged between said shear means and said uncoilerand adapted to induce a permanent set into at least a portion of saidlength of uncoiled strip in a manner that in recoiling, a substantiallyself-sustaining coil is formed.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said strip bending meanscomprises:

a first roll disposed transversely of the strip material and adapted toengage one surface of said uncoiled strip;

second and third rolls disposed substantially parallel to said firstroll and engageable with the opposite surface of the strip,

the relationship between said rolls being such that a permanent set isimparted to the strip while passing between the rolls.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said strip bending meansfurther comprises drive means adapted to drive to at least one of saidrolls incident to passage of the strip between said first roll and saidsecond and third rolls.

4. An apparatus to facilitate recoiling of an uncoiled portion of stripmaterial comprising in combination with a processing apparatus:

an uncoiler for rotatably supporting a coil of strip material to beuncoiled and fed into said processing apparatus;

said uncoiler being loacted a predetercined distance from saidprocessing apparatus and through which distance the uncoiled strippasses;

drive means associated with said uncoiler for rotating a coil in atleast one direction when supported by said uncoiler to cause recoilingof a length of uncoiled strip;

shear means to sever the uncoiled strip associated with said processingapparatus whereby a predetermined length of uncoiled strip extendsbetween said uncoiler and said shear means; and

strip bending means positioned between said shear means and saiduncoiler and adapted to induce a permanent set into at least a portionof said predetermined length of uncoiled strip whereby recoiling saidpredetermined length of strip by said uncoiler produces a substantiallyself-sustaining coil form.

5. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said strip bending meansincludes:

a first roll disposed transversely of the strip material and engageablewith one surface of said uncoiled strip;

second and third rolls disposed substantially parallel to said firstroll and engageable with the opposed surface of the strip;

drive means adapted to drive at least one of said rolls incident to thestrip passage between said first roll and said second and third rolls.

'6. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said strip bending meansis positioned in close proximity to said coil of strip material whenrotatably supported by said uncoiler.

7. An apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

an arm for carrying at least one of said rolls;

means secured to said arm for positioning said roll relative to the coilfrom an inoperative to an operative position.

8. An apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising:

guide means arranged between said strip bending means and said shearmeans and adapted to guide strip being uncoiled from said uncoiler;

means connected to said guide means for positioning the guide meansrelative to a coil of strip carried by the uncoiler.

9. An apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said strip bending meanscomprises:

a first roll extending transversely of the strip and ar ranged to engagethe lower surface of the strip; second and third rolls arrangedtransversely of the strip and adapted to engage the upper surface of thestrip; movable arm means carrying said first roll; movable arm meanscarrying said second and third rolls; power means associated with said:arm means for positioning said rolls from an inoperative position to anoperative position Where said rolls are located in a nested relationshipwhereby strip passing between said first and said second and third rollscauses a permanent set to be induced into the strip; and means fordriving at least one of said rolls. 10. A method of feeding strip-likematerial to a processing apparatus comprising the steps of:

uncoiling strip from a coil form and passing the strip into theprocessing apparatus; processing a first portion of the strip;discontinuing said processing prior to a second successive portion ofthe strip being passed into the processing apparatus and while at leasta portion of said second portion of strip is in coil form; shearing thefirst portion from the second portion of the strip; rewinding theuncoiled second portion of the strip on the coil; and simultaneouslywith said rewinding, inducing a permanent set into at least a portion ofthe second portion of the strip in a manner that, upon recoiling, aselfsustaining coil is formed. 11. In a method according to claim 10,wherein said processing includes:

passing the first portion of the strip through a rolling mill; saidsecond portion being unprime scrap material.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,179,011 11/1939 Hudson 72-1462,739,763 3/1956 Silfverlin et a1 72-148 3,150,706 9/1964 OBrien 72-1833,174,699 3/1965 Sciaky 242-78.1 3,328,989 7/1967 Stephan 72-146 MILTONS. MEHR, Primary Examiner.

US Cl. X.R. 72-371

